In His Footsteps
by The One And Only Lonely
Summary: prev called Just Like You sequel to "Fully Alive" Story about Sekai and Sai SxS kid and how he tries to find out about his uncle and the mess that insues! lol. crappy summary but do read! especially if you liked/read Fully Alive! On Hold T.T
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! Hopefully I'm seeing some familiar faces here...or java codes/scripts...or whatever they're called! Lol! Anyway...You read the summary. You know whats goin on! So read, enjoy, and review!! Much love and many thanks to everyone who R&Red my last fic! xxxx**

**Thirteen years on so:**

**Sasuke and Sakura etc 39 or so**

**Sekai and Asuma 21**

**Sai and Toyomo etc 12**

**Tsunade and Fugaku etc 10**

Chapter One - The Past Relayed In Pictures

A small bundle, wrapped in white cloth sat, comfortably held in the arms of a smiling young woman. Her pink locks cascaded down her pale shoulders and her jade green eyes reflected her happiness beautifully. Those same soft pink locks poked their way out of the bundle she was holding so gently, as did a tiny scrunched up fist, held straight up in the air as if in outrage at having being taken into the outside world.

A page turned and a fresh image came into view. The same pink haired woman was holding the hands of a giggling toddler up in the air as the little creature attempted to walk. The woman was smiling again, pride shining in her eyes and she looked…up away from the child? A pale hand extended down from what seemed to be behind the camera onto her shoulder and it seemed that it was to the owner of this hand that she was exchanging proud smiles at her child's achievement.

The page flipped over once more and a petite girl of about eight or nine stood in front of the Academy smiling widely a flush of pink through her cheeks and the sun shone into her onyx eyes making them shine and sparkle. Below that was another image of the same girl, a few years older proudly displaying a Konoha headband having just graduated.

Another turn of a page showed four smiling figures, the easily recognisable girl crouching in the front of the photo grinning sweetly, one hand to her face, about to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. The others in the photo consisted of an also easily recognisable white haired man with a mask covering the lower half of his face standing in the background. On either side of the girl stood two boys one with dark brown hair drawn back into a loose tail and haughty green eyes; the other was a lighter haired boy with sea-blue eyes, grinning in a stupid fashion but still warm. Below this photo read _"Kakashi-sensei, Nara Asuma, Kanagi Yasu and Me! 3__rd__ of March" _

The boy turned the page once more, not even knowing fully why he continued. The next selection of images showed the same girl along with her brunette friend looking happy with themselves having just passed their chunin exams. A heavily pregnant older version of the girl stood behind along with a tall, pale, dark-haired man; another spiky brown haired man and a blonde woman with four signature pigtails. There was a picture of a new jounin with the same pink and black parents as before; this time, however, a dark haired toddler joined them. The man who was undoubtedly his father held him in his arms, though the child held onto a long lock of his mother's hair gently.

A new and surprisingly young ANBU, no older than fifteen, claimed the final space on the double page. Her family was with her once more. The toddler from before was now a brooding six-year-old, obviously annoyed at having his photo taken but also at his energetic twin four-year-old siblings who seemed to be running rings around him.

That same, now twelve-year-old boy sighed and closed over the thick volume, deciding it better to continue looking through it in the comfort of his own room. He picked it up and made to move when out of the corner of his eye he saw something fall from the back of it. Two more photographs. He stooped down and picked them up, looking first at the up-facing backs. One read: _"Uzumaki-sama, Okaa-san and Otou-san." _The other: _"Okaa-san and Otou-san on their wedding day. March 13__th__."_

Gazing at the photo's the boy audibly noticed something. Looking closer one could tell that the two supposed "Otou-sans" were not the same person. They definitely looked alike, tall, pale, black hair and eyes; but they were not the same. The guy in the first photo was paler and his hair shorted. He smiled strangely also…fake. It was just of the pink haired woman, the fake man and an all to familiar eccentric blonde Hokage in his younger years. The other photo stood out less. He had seen that one a million times; every time he walked past the mantle place in the main living area of his home. The same two pink and black haired parents, far younger than in the last photo he'd seen adhered to the book. The woman was beaming, wearing a long white dress that was tight around her body but flared out into a loosely pleated skirt. Her hair was worn down straight and fell around her shoulders with the same grace at the dress around her. The man behind her too smiled widely with his hand loosely placed on her waist as they stood beneath the sakura trees that made up their wedding ceremony. The man wore a simple black suit, white shirt and black tie which matched him perfectly as well as his seldom smile. They went together. Fitting like two pieces of a puzzle.

"Onii-san!" said a pretty black-haired girl popping her head around the sliding door.

"Hn?"

"Dinner's ready!" she chirped happily before turning and zooming away down the covered outer hallway, him following along at his ease.

"Evening Okaa-san, Otou-san." he said impassively.

"Evening, Darling." his mother smiled, flicking her pink bangs out of her eyes as she laid a steaming bowl down for him.

His father looked up from his bowl and nodded, unable to talk, chopsticks up to his full mouth.

He took his seat and began eating quietly without any further indication that he acknowledged his family's existence.  
"So, Sai!" grinned his mother, trying to start some much needed conversation with her eldest son. "You got your team today. How did that go?"

"Fine."

"Who was put on your team, Onii-san?" asked a miniature version of him.

"Mm! Who?" nodded the identical female counterpart of the questioner. Fugaku and Tsunade looked up at him eagerly. "Uzumaki Toyomo and Hyuuga Riato." he said coldly.

"Oooooh! To-yo-mo-san!" Fugaku and Tsunade sang in unison, teasingly.

Sai shot them a death glare which they brushed off easily, one was just like any other.

"Shhh." hushed his mother trying to quieten the giddy ten-year-olds while obviously restraining a giggle herself. Sai looked to his father in desperation; the bastard was smirking. Sai pretended to ignore them and turned down to his food, the steam ran up along his face, leaving small cold streaks of water along his cheeks.

"Hey everyone." came a voice from the door, as in walked a bubbly pink haired girl, the image of the one sitting at the table, though younger. She wore the traditional ANBU armour, her hair down and a long red scarf wrapped around her neck once and fell down the full of her back.

"Back already Sekai?" Sakura asked happily.

"Mm! The mission didn't take as long as we though." she replied while hugging Tsunade who had jumped up to greet her.

She fixed herself a bowl of ramen and sat down next to her father and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey Otou-san." He smiled and patted her hair sweetly.

Sai looked at his father and soon disappeared into deep thought. Sasuke was caught up in a conversation with Sekai but quickly noticed his son staring at him out of the corner of his eye, as if he was trying to bore into his thoughts. His son scared him sometimes; he was so like Itachi it was frightening. His hair was even longer than Fugaku's and he had a more tired expression. He progressed at a speed close to Itachi's also. It terrified Sakura too but for Sasuke it haunted him.

Sekai looked at her father noticing how he was no longer fully there. "Otou-san?" she questioned inclining her head down so that he was forced to make eye contact. "Sorry." he said quickly snapping out of his thoughts and straightening up. "Wha-Where were we?"

"I was telling you about the apartment I wanted to put the offer on." she said playing absentmindedly with her chopsticks.

"Hai, hai." he said trying to pay attention and not to drift off into thought once more. His efforts failed.

"…and Ichido-san said that-"

"Forget it, Sekai. He's gone." her mother said trying to giggle to lighten her mood, it annoyed her at how he would suddenly drift of lately but she couldn't help that and had to keep a smile for her children. Especially Sai, he couldn't know his parents feared who he could turn out to be. Sasuke had broken the cycle but that wouldn't stop the possibility of it happening again.

**Sorry its short but I couldn't really find much else to put into this that fit! Lol! Hope you liked it...however pointlessly vague it was! Lemme know what you thought anyway! R&R xxxx **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hola! Sorry it took so long to update! T.T And sorry its short, god I had no idea where to go with this chapter!! Twas like getting blood from a stone! But trust me, the next will have more...plot! Lol!! Anyway, read and hopefully enjoy what is there:) R&R I love to know what you think...just construstive critisism as always xD Much Love x**

Chapter Two - Of a Million Different Questions

"Sai-kun!"

Sai was lost in thought and didn't hear the yell of the pretty blonde girl now running to catch up with him. He only noticed her seconds after she reached him and slowed to walk with him.

"Ohiyo, Sai-kun." smiled the Hokage's daughter flicking her hair out of her pale blue byukagan eyes.

"Ohiyo, Uzumaki-san." he said, showing no emotioin but somehow his voice showed warmth.

"Don't call me that!" she pouted, folding her arms. "My name is Toyomo, you know that! And its my father who is your superior, not me." She finished softly.

"You put yourself down too easily, Toyomo-san." he said cooly, ignoring her annoyed expression.

Toyomo felt the pink grow in her face, an awful trait she had gained from her mother. She did her best to supress it as they continued to walk towards the bridge and prayed that Sai would just keep looking forward and not at her.

"Toyomo-hime!" panted a spent looking boy with the same eyes. He had chocolate brown hair and wore his Konoha head band across his forehead. Had it been taken off the mark of a branch member Hyuuga would have been clearly evident there, set by his father's uncle before he died.

"Don't run off like that, hime!"

"Don't call me hime! You _know_ I hate honorifics! Just because my father is the Hokage-"

"Even if you weren't the Hokage's daughter I would still be obliged to call you hime. You are part of the head family, hime." he teased.

"Toyomo!!" she fumed. "TO-YO-MO!!!"

XxX

Sai pushed open the gate and walked onto the courtyard of his now empty house, a bell swinging triumphantly from his belt. Kakashi-sensei must be loosing his touch.

"Hello?" he called to be sure.

Nothing.

'_Perfect.' _he thought running first to abandon his things in his room and then towards his parents' study. He quickly checked the door over to make sure there was nothing there that would tell his parents that he had been in there. Nothing again. Surprised at his parents' ignorance he walked inside. The room was far larger than he had expected and the outter hardly gave any of it away, and in a large L-shape. At one end there was to large desk placed so that the people sitting at the would be directly back to back. Shelves lined almost the entirety of the walls, some even passing over either desk. The inhabitants of the selves seemed to comprise of thick, often leather-bound, volumes or selections of files tied together with a ribbon or twine. Sai was confused as to how his parents had found a use for most of them or the time to organise them all. He walked towards one of the desks and found it to be his mothers. Medical files lay open on the desk demonstrating how to re-attach limbs and the hand seals and medicines needed. He mentally shuddered at one of the diargams but dismissed it as he stood up on the desk to look for something on the shelf above. He ran a hand along the spines of the books as his eyes scanned over the titles. Some of those books were banned. What the hell was his mother doing with them? Removing one at random he opened it; it was handwritten but neat and the diagrams well drawn, however gruesome and disturbing. He flicked to the last page. Empty. In fact half the book was blank. Sai flicked to the inside coverpage and read it aloud, though quietly and to himself.

"Medical Journal. Y(A/N: Sorry, can't remember his surname) Kabuto." he murmered. "One messed up guy." he added, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. Deciding he probably would have better luck on his father's side of the study he crossed the room and clambered up the nearby ladder that ran along all the shelves so you could reach any book with ease. He ran his hand along the spines once more.

"The History of the Sharingan…Sharingan development…Byukagan and Sharingan…" he recited the titles to himself as he went along the line of shelves. His father had quite possibly every book there was on the Sharingan ever made. He swung down the line to an inviting bunch of files tied together with a red ribbon. He pulled it out and hoped down to his father's desk. He untied the ribbon and sifted through the files; opening one flicking through the papers inside and then moving on. Sai could not believe what he had found; the largest file had the death certificates of every single Uchiha clan member prior to his father and each one of them, going back about thirty years, had _'lacerations' _or _'critical haemorrhaging' _or some other injuries associated with ninja weaponry. He looked at the dates…all on the same date. What had happened!? Closing the file to open the next he found his answer. There was an aged newspaper in the next and the headline read: **'Entire Uchiha Clan Slaughtered, Only One Survivor, Uchiha Itachi The Culprit?' **Sai looked below the headline at the article; there was two pictures, file photos of two very similar looking people. Below each picture there was a name, the first being _'Uchiha Itachi, 15' _and the latter…_'Uchiha Sasuke' _??? Sai frowned, what had happened and why hadn't he been told? He turned to the actual article and began reading. _'The scene was one of ghostly horror on the Uchiha side of town this morning. Bodies of the deceased littered the streets covered only recently by the investigators. All seemed to have been brutally slaughtered. All but two. Uchiha Sasuke remains alive and physically fine in Konoha hospital and is currently being treated for shock and sevear mental trauma. The other is the brother of the same boy, Uchiha Itachi, who is currently missing. When asked on the whereabouts of his brother, it was said that, Uchiha Sasuke became extremely distressed and actually uttered the words: "Please don't kill me!"…'_

Sai felt his jaw drop. Had his uncle, for whom he was currently searching for any information on, killed his entire clan and family?! Had he left his father alive to live through the torture of being alone?

'_**What a nice guy.'**_ his inner voice said sarcastically; a trait he had unknowingly inherited from his mother.

The next set of papers, a case file on the murders, photographs and different documents accossiated with the investigation…Every one finding Uchiha Itachi guilty of the genocide. Sai made a thoughtful noice and returned the papers to their shelf.

Sai continued shifting through page after page of Uchiha history, all of it meaningless to him. He just wanted to know why his uncle was such a taboo subject around his home, let alone his father. Killing the clan was a sure fire but he was so sure that there was more to it.He had dared to ask Sekai once; she had shuddered, clutched her face and told him never to mention it ever again. That, it was safe to say, had only sparked his attention further.

Sai had first heard the name Itachi in the academy, Hatake Kakashi, now his team leader, had been talking with another jounin and had not noticed the inquisitive twelve-year-old playing with his kunais only feet away. This just added to the things he felt the need to find out; but he couldn't as anyone about Itachi and who could he ask about the two different "Otou-sans"? He couldn't ask Sekai, could he?

Wait.

Sai threw the files back into their proper place and returned to his mother's side of the study. After a minute's looking he found a historical book among the medical. ANBU history. He began reading hungrily.

"Hello?" he heard a call from outside; Sekai. "Anyone home?"

'_Shit!' _he thought. He was caught.

With a quick look around the room to make sure all was as it had been, he ran out and closed the door as quietly and quickly as he could. He turned to walk down the hallway casually but walked straight into an equally inquisitive pink ANBU.

"What were you doing in there?" Sekai asked, sounding scarily like their mother.

"Nothing." he said cooly, jamming his hands into his pockets and making to walk on.

"Not so fast, lil' brother. I could easily find out by getting Okaa-san or Otou-san in there."

"Sekai, don't you think you're a little old for telling?" he scoffed smugly.

Sekai frowned, looking even more like their mother than ever. She then stood and walked on, stopping when she reached the study. Sai watched her warily over his shoulder as she formed hand seals and paused, head bowed, concentrating hard. Her head rose again after a few moments and she spoke in a coarse, dangerously low voice, sounding completely unlike herself.

"Uchiha Itachi is none of your concern. Do not waste your time." she growled.

"The same goes for _you_ and _your _Otou-san and root." he smirked.

Sekai froze, but did not allow it to register on her exterior. How did he know? How could he know? How long had he been in there? And more importantly, what was she going to do?

**Hope it wasn't too painful, and I hope you'll keep reading for the update that will come more regularly and better! XD R&R**

**xx**


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

**_Hello once more, m'dears! Here's the next chapter! :D Sorry it took so long but I had some serious writers blockage issues! But once I got going I got loads done! The next few will be coming more regularly 'cause well I is on my holidays from school so no excuse not to type and upload! Lol! I hope you enjoy! R&R_**

Chapter Three - History Repeats Itself

With each subtle clap of a foot hitting off the dry broken ground a small cloud of dust would erupt from beneath it. Each billowing out into the shoes of the three genin slowly but surely making their way to the hidden village of sound; accompanied, of course, by a dreamy looking Kakashi and client, Yagami Ayano.

Ayano was an incredibly hot-headed merchant woman of about thirty, hiring them only for protection from possible thieves. And she was right to do so, they had been travelling for no more than an hour when they found themselves under siege by a group of rogue ninjas.

"My, my! What have we here?" sneered a particularly mangy looking one.

"_What we have here _is a bunch of nice people who would like to be on their way." smiled Kakashi cocking his head to one side, almost like a puppy.

The man who had spoken now snorted with laughter. "Fat chance! We have you out numbered!"

Toyomo opened her mouth to say something but Kakashi beat her to it. "It seems you have but I don't think that matters much to us." he grinned.

"Ha! What's a bunch of kids and an old guy gonna do?"

"Kids!" exclaimed Toyomo hotly. "Konoha shinobi more like it!"

There was a collective ripple of laughter from the troupe and the genin felt Kakashi tense behind them. There was a moment's pause where no one moved muscle and then suddenly as though someone had suddenly pulled a switch, everyone sprang to life in a mad dash of weapons and limbs. The three male nin sprang in alternate directions, all at the oncoming enemies. Toyomo hung back, standing by Ayano, kunai raised to eye level.

A lone thief approached her cautiously as though she was liable to explode, taking note of her occupied comrades and seeing her as a weakling.

"Right there, pretty, you can just back down there and I won't hurt ya." he said smirking strangely at her.

Toyomo held her ground, glaring at him indignantly. He lunged at her and she jammed her eyes shut, but she felt no collision. She opened them to find none other than Sai standing in front of her, having had blocked the man's attack. He smirked and threw another punch, which Sai evaded easily. His fist went by in slow motion and taking her opportunity, Toyomo grabbed it, ducked under him and flipped him so he landed face down in the dust. Toyomo held him fast in a painful pin, one foot on his back.

She looked over at Sai who nodded approvingly at her and she smiled finding a certain pressure point at the base of the man's neck and knocked him out cold. Toyomo ran back to Ayano as quick as she could, firing a shuriken straight at one of her enemies who attempted to dodge it and failed miserably. The shuriken pummelled into his upper arm making him scream out in pain.

'_Byakugan!' _she yelled as he came toward her, sword raised high.

Toyomo formed some hand seals at an alarming rate and envisaged, below her, the large circular jutsu seal. She then jumped into action hitting the nin's vital chakra points as well as those of some of his comrades as she continued.

From her fast movements the dry earth spat up a hazy, sandy dust obstructing their vision, all but Sai and Toyomo's. The dust grew and the leaf nin grew wary. Toyomo stopped as did Sai, Raito and Kakashi and the dust remained and if anything became stronger in its movement. A wind grew and swept harshly down from...above?

They all looked up to find a huge earth coloured…bird? The birds wings swept clouds of the dust up into the air and around the shinobi. "Sai, Toyomo, Raito! Be careful! If this is who I think it is, we're in trouble!" Kakashi said with something in his voice that they had never heard before from him. Fear.

"Kakashi-sensei, who-" Raito began but was cut off.

"Hah! Long time no see Kakashi-san, yeah?" said a man with long blonde hair that hung across one eye.

"Deidara!" Kakashi spat as though the words tasted bad in his mouth. "What the hell do you want!?"

Deidara's uncovered eye scanned his companions and rested on Sai's scowling face. He laughed coldly and dangerously. "So the brat had a kid."

The man's, deemed Deidara, companion laughed also but stopped and whispered something to him.

'_Deidara-san, what are we laughing at?'_

Deidara hung his head, defeated. "For the love of god, Tobi, just go!" he yelled. "You know what to do."

Tobi jumped down from the clay bird, which had now perched itself on a large boulder right beside them, and landed in front of the genin, focusing on Sai. Kakashi, noticing this, made to stand between them but Deidara stopped him, jumping down also.

"Not your problem at the moment, yeah." he sneered shoving his hands into the pouches on either hip.

"I see you got your arms back." Kakashi said already forming hand seals. "Even the one Gaara-sama took from you...Kakuzu?"

"Ah." he said removing his hands from the pouches. "Before you killed him!"

"My, my, Sai-kun. You look exactly like your uncle, it's scary." he said in his child-like voice. "You have the same scary glare!"

Sai's eyes widened in surprise at the mention of his uncle. "What do you know of my uncle!?" he spat activating his three pronged Sharingan.

"I had the pleasure of working with Itachi-sama." he practically giggled.

"Is this guy for real!?" Toyomo whispered more to herself than anyone. Raito cast her an agreeing glance, confused at the childish manner this masked man acted in.

"Lets see if you're as good a fighter." said Tobi activating his own Sharingan, but with a difference...

"Raito, Toyomo, close your eyes." Sai yelled realising what Tobi was doing.

"Nand-" she began.

"Just do it! He's using Mangekyo!" he shouted harshly.

Kakashi heard his yell and started at the mention of such a thing.

_'Oh no!' _

Sai jumped back gaining some space to think of what to do; what could he do to avoid being sucked into a Mangekyo genjutsu!? He thought furiously, keeping an eye on Tobi from afar so he would know when to move. He would see it before it happened anyway, and he did but-

"Not quick enough!" Tobi laughed and all around Sai descended into a deep red and black darkness. Tobi stood in front of him, his stance almost gloating.

"You wanna see something cool?" he asked, still more childish yet.

"No." Sai said plainly. "Release this!"

"Hehe, you're gonna have to see anyway. I think you'll appreciate it though."

"Piss off! Release this!!"

But before Sai's eyes appeared a film real of something he'd never have expected. As if he was standing in the past itself, he saw who he took to be Itachi performing numerous incredible feats of ninja genius. Split into different achievements, it played before him and he couldn't help but admire his uncle's ability. He felt something wash over him besides admiration.

Longing.

Longing to be just as talented, just as good. And as the images dissolved in front of his eyes, Sai felt a slight twinge of disappointment. "You have the capability to be this and so much more. You're more like you're uncle than you think. You've already surpassed your father's ability at this age. You're Sharingan is far more progressed. We, Akatsuki, could help you gain Itachi's level of skill and more." Tobi's words seemed simple but oh so tempting to him. "Waddya say?"

Sai felt his thoughts leaning towards Tobi's words but shook his head furiously, shaking the thought from it. "No. That's stupid! You can't win me over on such a simple, idiotic promise."

"Think about it." he said forming hand seals, then paused, placing his hand on the illusionary ground. "I'm sure you'll come around; give it time."

From his hand spread long scrawling of kanji, like spider's legs they spread from his fingers and across the floor. Holding his hand firmly there he took his other, bit his thumb so it bled and formed it in a basic hand seal; with his index and middle fingers pointing straight up with the others curled on his palm. He murmured something; a jutsu and then walked toward him. Sai tried to back away but found himself suddenly bound to a large cross shaped object.

Tobi advanced of him, bleeding hand outstretched and touched his forehead with his thumb. He felt him draw a symbol with the blood the three comma shaped prongs of the Sharingan. "Activate." Tobi said sternly in a voice much unlike his own.

A blinding pain spread across his forehead and encircled his head. Sai screamed out louder than he had ever before, his hands in their bonds writhed in their subconscious attempt to hold his head.

"Make it stop!"

The childish words were past his lips before he had time to stop them but he didn't care, the pain was to much.

"Release." he heard Tobi say and he collapsed back into the real, dusty ground, clutching his head and still screaming.

"Sai!" he heard a girl scream. His friends had lost their faces to him and the he was unable to feel the area around him. He was completely unconscious of Tobi and Deidara leaving, the dust swirling around them once more as the gigantic clay bird took flight once more. Unconscious of Toyomo and Raito running to him; unconscious of Ayano's petrified, quivering stare at his unexplained agony and unconscious of Kakashi calling him, talking to him, telling him to stay with them. And then he was unconscious, greeting the sensation with open arms; all was black and he felt no more pain.

* * *

Groggily, Sai opened his eyes. His eyelids were heavier than usual and his head was pounding.

"O-ow." he said reaching up to clutch his forehead.

"Sai?" He heard his mother's relieved voice and despite its soft, warm tone it ached his head more to hear it.

"Okaa-san?" he said confused. Where was he? "Where-"

"The hospital." she said a grave tone filtering through into her voice. "Kakashi-san told us what happened. Do you remember?"

"I-I think so...Akatsuki."

"Yeah." again her voice descended into an even more grave tone. Not her son as well. Akatsuki had plagued her and Sasuke's life enough; she didn't want that for their children too.

"Your father should be here soon." she said trying to direct him away from any questions about Akatsuki. The little he knew the better but she had under estimated her son's curiosity.

"Who were they…Akatsuki?" he asked then paused deciding it was better to get his next question out there before his father arrived. "They…they said they knew my uncle…?"

Sakura's head snapped up. "No…" she whispered faintly so as Sai wouldn't hear her.

"Nani?"

"Nothing." she said smiling falsely then continued more sincerely. "Akatsuki is a group of evil shinobi, all with unique abilities. Their goal is only to gain more power and their motives are never what they make them out to be. They even went after Naruto-sama for his abilities and yes at one time your uncle was a member; but your father took care of him and between us we've taken down a few of them. Do not, under any circumstances, concern yourself with them unless it is within the orders of a mission. They are dangerous people to mess with."

She turned away from him but Sai caught the dour look on her face, as usual there was something she was hiding from him. "Oh, and don't mention your uncle to your father. I'll explain it to you some other time; I have to go. I'm sorry."

"Hai. Bye, Okaa-san." he said smiling briefly as she kissed his forehead and winced horribly as she turned her back. That had hurt too much to be natural.

"I'll be back in a little while." she said over her shoulder and pulled the door shut behind her. She sighed deeply. "They're after him, I know it."

"I'll be damned if I let them turn him into another Itachi." came the low, dangerous voice of her husband. He stood just beside of the door, leaning against the wall, arms folded and one foot propping him up slightly.

"I'm still scared though." she said sighing again.

"Me too." he said hugging her tightly, resting his head upon hers.

"Check his mind." she said abruptly, remembering how he had winced when she had kissed his forehead.

"Ok." he said kissing her softly and walking into his son's hospital room, Sharingan already activated.

**_0.o I hope it was enjoyed! Lol, again sorry it took a while! It won't take as long to come out with the next chapter, I have most of it written! :D But (cough) reviews are a motivational tool! Lol! Only joking but do review, I love to know what you think!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hola all...ok it's actually a new record as to how late this chapter is and I have no excuse other than I am lazy, have a life outside fanfiction and well I ain't getting payed or nothin' T.T Apologies anyway! But its here! Yay! (Well I'm happy ¬¬) Sorry if its a lil' short...It looked alot longer on Word but meh! Enjoy and please review...I love to know what you think and if there is anything I can do to better my writing quality! _**

**_10,000+ hits and 100+ reviews on Fully Alive! I love you guys! You make my day!_**

Chapter Four - Ice Cold

"Get out of my head!" Sai shouted at the top of his lungs, the agony returning to him the moment his father came across the curse seal within his mind.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" he screamed.

Within Sai's mind the seal took the form that Tobi had left it in. His mind was exactly like a Mangekyo genjutsu, red and black and that awful, curse seal took root right in the centre of it.

"Get out!" he screamed again clutching his head in anguish. Sasuke felt Sai's resistance to his invasion grow considerably, more than he had thought his son was capable of...even with Sakura as his mother. So much so that he, himself, was struggling just to stay there. It must have had something to with that damn curse seal.

"Sai." he said firmly, retreating from a relieved Sai's mind. "What ever they want, don't do it. They will only use you against yourself or others and no one wants that."

Sai was silent but for a small whimpering noise he made, still holding his head. Sasuke moved and sat down on the side of his bed. "Sai," he said again placing his hand on his son's aching head. "You need to listen to me and listen good. Do _not_ follow in your uncle's footsteps."

Sai turned his head upward to look at his father, his small gesture of affection catching him off-guard. "Its probably time enough and only fair that I told you about him."

Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled loudly; his scumbag brother didn't deserve this recognition. Nevertheless he explained everything to the wide-eyed thirteen-year-old who lapped up every drop of information that Sasuke gave him, and watched the mixed string of emotions register on his face. He could only hope that this would deter him.

* * *

_Three years later…_

"Back again, Sai-kun?" came the playful, sweet voice of his team mate sitting cross-legged on the end of his hospital bed. "I'm beginning to think you like it here."

"Ah." he said, looking up to see a sixteen-year-old Toyomo smiling back at him. Her blonde hair was considerably longer, falling down to her middle back and her hazy blue, byukagan eyes hadn't changed a bit. She had grown a lot, in height also; they all had but Sai stood the tallest with Raito a close second. Toyomo was dwarfed at only their shoulder height but made up for it in attitude. She had developed her father's hot-headed personality and more so a temper that rivalled that of the Kyuubi that still took residence within her father. Sai, however, had become more brooding and silent though had become a lot closer to his team; them being the only people he really talked to. In the years it had changed and Kakashi no longer served any purpose as a teacher to them so they stood as their own three person cell.

"Feeling better?" she asked, cocking her head to one side, still smiling.

"Yeah. A lot better. How's Raito?" he asked exhaling loudly. "Shouldn't you visit him too?"

"Where do you think I just came from?" she said, her smile disappearing. "He's a little better off than you. You shouldn't pick fights."

"Don't be stupid. He wanted to fight me also."

"That's why I told him the same thing. Its bad enough with that last mission putting you in here but don't do harm to each other. There is just no point."

"We wanted to see who was better…and he's a cocky bastard."

"As are you." she said flatly.

Sai scowled irritably but he couldn't deny it without causing an argument between the two of them and that was the last thing he wanted. She could tell she had pissed him off and fell silent; though refused to retract what she had said.

"Sorry." he sighed.

"It's ok." she said smiling; she was one of the few people he would admit defeat to and she knew and delighted in this small concession of the usual, unsaid, rule.

"I should go. Get better soon. Otou-sama has a mission for us when you two are out." she said getting up.

"Ah." he said again turning away from her as she left. There was always something laborious about the mission they were given. In the chunin and jounin exams their team had come out on top. They had made a name for themselves as being unbeatable; what was to be expected with two possessors of byukagan and one of Sharingan on the same team? Yet still they had been placed on ridiculously easy mission after another, barley scraping past the C rank. He knew his parents had something to do with it; having always been close friends with the Hokage; and with the obviousness of his tendency to be partial to his mother, he knew they had expressed their fears about that damn curse. And he knew he had listened.

The missions scarcely saw any action and the last on had been the only exception since he was thirteen. It had been easy enough, a simple escort, but it had been intercepted by enemy nin from the sound village. They had been fairly easy to beat but had managed to get a good few shots in at them, causing injuries in both Toyomo and Raito. Sai's injuries, however, had been caused by himself, or Akatsuki rather. His head had been close on splitting open with the pain, or so he thought. It hadn't disturbed him for years, remaining dormant in its uses until then for some reason and he couldn't for the life of him work out why it would suddenly begin to bother him again. Why suddenly then he had been forced to abandon his team mates by falling unconscious with pain once more.

Sai thought this over again and again and soon he found sleep creeping up on him and his eyelids drooped gladly shut. When he opened his eyes again it was dark outside. It was midsummer and in the heat of the day the window on the other side of the room had been opened. The breeze it had brought earlier had been pleasant but now the wind coming through the small frame was sharp and icy cold with no sun to heat it.

Sai rose from his bed the sheets seemingly the only noise within the whole ward; the hospital seemed to be sleeping as well. He made his way over to the window and reached out to pull it closed; doing so he turned around to return to his bed and almost walked into two familiar faces, or rather a face, a mask and a jutsu.

"Hello again, Sai-kun. Tobi hasn't seen you in aaaaaaaaaages!" said the masked man happily. "You got big!"

Sai stood, paralyzed with fear. He remembered the pain he had went through all those years ago on their first encounter and knew that the two Akatsuki's presence didn't bode well. Silently he thanked god that Tobi could not hear his terrified, screaming thoughts.

"Oh…" Tobi continued, genuinely confused. "You scared or something'?" He walked closer to the teen, an innocent and inquisitive aura about him but corrected himself. "Anyway, Tobi and Deidara-danna are here for a reason."

Tobi assumed a simple hand seal and muttered something under his breath. "Oooh, Sai-kun got good as well as grown up. Heh. You is good enough to come to Akatsuki now, yay!"

"No…" Sai whispered, gaining some control over his muscles.

"No." he said firmer, this time. "No!"

The Mangekyo world dissolved around him and he was back in the hospital room, Tobi with him. "I refuse to!" he said loudly.

"Heh." Tobi's voice echoed something he had never expected to hear in it; malice. "Stupid. You know you want to and even if you don't all Tobi has to do is this." he held up his hand in that same simple hold that had brought on…

Agony.

Sai screamed out with the searing, burning sensation that wrapped around his head. "Stop it!" he shouted "Stop! Stop!" He shouted it again and again but it was to no avail. Was the whole hospital a sleeping jutsu? Why weren't they coming to help him? "We will wait outside Konoha, in the nearest inn for one week, no more…if you wish to come."

He knew pain and had built up a resistance to it, as a shinobi he had to, and it took a lot for him to scream like that; but this pain, literally blinding in its intensity, would surely drive him insane.

"Sai-kun?" came a voice at the door; a nurse. "Are you ok!?" she said rushing over to him and trying to lift his head up.

"Get away!" he yelled gruffly pushing her away. She fell back against the wall as he continued to almost writhe in pain, and ran from the room to fetch help. He was curled up on his knees in a foetal like position clutching his head, feet from his bed and inches from passing out.

"Sai!" he heard his mother's anguished scream. Where had that Akatsuki bastard gone? He pulled himself up, using his mother's shoulder as leverage, one hand still on his forehead, looking around.

"Sai, come lie down." Sakura said half dragging him to his bed, one arm around her shoulder.

She placed him on his bed and tried to get him to meet her eyes. "Sai…Sai! Look at me!" she called softly yet sternly. "Are you ok?! What happened?!"

Sai heard his mother's concerned voice and subconsciously thanked god that his mother was a medic. His scared and unsure inner child was glad to have his mother there with him. He felt this weakness and despised it; despised himself for possessing it; despised her for feeding it. She stroked his hair, consoling him, like some spoilt battered child and his subconscious lapped all that attention up.

No. He would not allow it!

"It's fine." he said swatting her hand away and turning his back on her so he wouldn't have to see the shocked, hurt look on her face and her hand still suspended there in midair, mid-action. He would have to squash that undeserving remorse and guilt too.

"Sai, what happened-"

"Nothing!" he said, angered and dismissive.

His mother sighed and stood up. "You really are your father's son, you know that?" she mumbled before leaving, closing the door behind her, stomach knotted. "Shit!" She looked at the clock mounted on the wall above the nearby nurse's station. Her shift was just about over; just as well. She needed to talk to Naruto and Sasuke ASAP; Akatsuki were back, she knew it.

* * *

The cool night air was pleasant on his skin; the soft breeze pulled up his long bangs and strew them across his pale face and rustled through the leaves, covering up any sound his footsteps made on the cobbled path out of Konoha.

It had been several days since the incident in the hospital giving Sai all the time he felt he needed to think over what he was about to do.

_'We will wait outside Konoha, in the nearest inn, for one week, no more…if you wish to come.' _His voice had been omniously knowing...

"Sai-kun." said a figure, stepping out onto the path before him.

He sighed. "What are you doing out so late, hime." he said interjecting humour into his voice to release some of the obvious oncoming tension. But, for once, she didn't object to his use of the word 'hime'.

"I heard about what happened in the hospital. Don't leave. Akatsuki will bring you nowhere."

"They will grant me the power I desire." he said simply, shrugging and continuing to walk past her, head bowed.

"Is that as far as your desires run?" she asked austerely, her back to his. He stopped dead hearing a unknown, serious tone in her voice. "Do you not…Sai kun, I…I l-love you more than anything!" she whimpered.

There was an uncomfortable silence and Toyomo opened her mouth to say more but she stopped dead in her tracks when Sai appeared, suddenly before her. He towered over her but she couldn't look at his face and so looked down, tears dripping from her eyes and landing in liquid shadow on the ground, and mentally cursed herself for being so weak.

"Please stay…" she rasped between strangled sobs. "I don't want to lose you."

He exhaled softly, sending the bangs across her forehead off in an irritating dance. Sai cupped her chin in his hand and pulled her face up and held it there. "You always say such useless things." he said smirking.

Toyomo didn't know which he was referring to but either hurt and she wretched her face from his electric grip and dropped her head again, a new ocean of tears spilling out her already itching eyes.

"Maybe I do…" she said, her voice watery. "…But you should know, even if you don't stay…That I love you and have always done."

"Your words are useless; because I already know." he said flatly, leaving the girl at a loss of what would happed next, though what did happen was in no way expected by either. Toyomo's arms acted of their own accord, wrapping themselves around his middle tightly and her head rested itself on his surprisingly warm chest.

"Please hug me, then." she said calmly. "Allow me one memory of you that I can cherish, ne?"

Sai stood rigid for a moment but relaxed with her warmth and enclosed her quivering form in the tight cocoon of his arms. He pulled away from her and she reluctantly allowed him to do so, as his hand cupped her chin again. "Allow _me_ something I can cherish also."

And with that he inclined his head to meet hers and kissed her softly, his lips caressing hers. Her eyes widened initially at the shock but she sunk into him after only seconds.

"Come with me."

"Of course."

**_Hehe! I know Sakura would have killed for this but then we'd have no Sekai T.T ...Who hasn't, granted, made much of an appearance in this fic even though it was supposed to be centring her aswell as Sai...Well she'll just have to come into it soon! _**

**_I'm not 100 satisfied with this chapter but, meh, it took long enough! T.T_**

**_As always reviews are muchly, muchly, MUCHLY appreciated!! And I hope you liked it!!_**

**_X.x.X_**

**_p.s. I is writing a new fic that has been in my head for forever! Its sasusaku but there's a lil itasaku in there too! Hope to find you there when I finally upload it!! Ciao_**


	5. Notes Sorry!

_**Hey all,**_

_**Sorry to any that thought that this might (finally) be another chapter!! (I hate when authors do that…a message instead of a chapter…) But anyway, as you may or may not have noticed, I haven't updated in a while! This is because of a cocktail of writers block/lack of inspiration…which I hope will be remedied soon! Thank you for your patience!**_

_**I would also like to note that the title "Just Like You" will be changing! I am open to suggestions, if any of you have them; and you'll get full credit when I do manage to get a new chapter up!**_

_**Thank you again to anyone and everyone that reviewed or just plain finds this story readable! You guys are what keep me going! You make my day!**_

_**Much love, **_

_**The One And Only Lonely**_

_**XxX**_


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